The company is positioning Tubi TV as a free service that complements subscription VOD services like Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime Instant Video, and with a bigger selection than other ad-supported services like Sony Pictures Television’s Crackle. But you get what you pay for — and there may not be a lot on the service that lure massive numbers of consumers, even though it’s free.

Most of Tubi TV’s library, from some 120 partners, will be unfamiliar to U.S. audiences. The content spans multiple genres, including anime, Asian TV shows and movies, international films, cartoons and kids’ programming, comedy, cooking, documentaries, music, nature, news, reality TV and sci-fi.

The firm touts the lineup as providing the world’s largest selection of free streaming TV and film content. “If you look at our library, we’re by far larger than anybody else,” adRise CEO and founder Farhad Massoudi said. “And the quality of the content is far better.”

“We’ve tried to stay away from bottom-feeding here,” said Thomas Ahn Hicks, adRise’s head of business development strategy. “We are not carrying primetime content from (U.S.) broadcast or cable networks… but what we are really trying to do is drive a large breadth of content on as many verticals as possible. No one has really done that yet.”

As for what’s actually on Tubi TV, the company cites TV shows including “The Man Show,” “Red Shoe Diaries,” “The Cosby Show,” “My Favorite Martian,” and “I Spy”; British series including “Whose Line is it Anyway,” “Lip Service,” “Queer as Folk,” “Father Ted” and “Spaced”; Nordic noir series “Sandhamn Murders.” In addition, the kids’ lineup includes content from Jim Henson Co. and Hasbro Studios.

AdRise execs point out that Netflix’s streaming service started out without many big-name titles, adding that Tubi TV’s content will continue to expand. “If you run out of the things to watch on your Netflix subscription, you want to go beyond that to find something else to watch,” Massoudi said. “The idea is to market Tubi TV as an alternative to subscription services.”

Tubi TV’s ad-supported service will be available initially only in the U.S., and only on three devices: the recently launched Amazon Fire TV set-top, as well as Roku and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 videogame system. AdRise plans to launch the service in the next two months on the web as well as on Android devices, Google’s Chromecast, Apple iPhones and iPads, Kindle Fire, Samsung and Sony televisions, TiVo DVRs, and WD TV.

AdRise, founded in 2010, has raised total of $4 million from Foundation Capital and other investors including: Mark Amin, former vice chairman of Lionsgate; Zod Nazen, former Yahoo CTO; Bobby Yazdani, founder of Saba Software; and Streamlined Ventures. The San Francisco-based company has 12 employees.

Media companies that adRise counts as clients include Discovery Communications, ITV and Starz Digital Media, for which the startup manages VOD applications.

Even two years after this article appears, Tubi TV needs some serious work. Pause a movie on Tubi, reload the app later and the icon for that movie pops up first with “continue watching” over it. So far so good. Hit the icon, then have to put up with 2-3 minutes of commercials, only to find your movie start at the beginning again.

All these stations have this puma commercial that locked up at the end of it. And in some cases because of it the movies over. You can’t watch anymore of it. Because of that f ¥£&&g commercial. And then trying to find someone to tell about it. So it can be corrected is impossible. Great service guy’s